The Enthusiasts' Page

All things 'Maserati'. News of forthcoming models, owner's cars, tips, 'Marque' reunions and the odd touch of humour! In fact anything of interest to the 'Maseratista'.

So if you have any news about Maseratis or have anything owners and enthusiasts should know, send details to maserati123@btopenworld.com

 
You can click on some pictures for a better view!!

QUICK BROWSE - YOU ARE NOW ON PAGE 102
 
 
 
From Richard in the UK

 

"Enrico,

I wonder if anyone can help me adjust the idle on my 1995 Ghibli 2.8 Automatic.

When COLD it idles at 1000 rpm in neutral and 850/900 rpm in drive.

When WARM it idles at 1000-1100 rpm in neutral and 950 rpm in drive.

Occasionally the car stalls when COLD when drive is engaged. How do you adjust the idle?

Regards,

Richard."

 
 
 
 
From Jonny in The Netherlands

Hi there Enrico,

If I recall correctly, there's a screw on the throttle body for adjusting the idle... I'd have to have a look on my car to pinpoint it though, but I remember it being on the top of the throttle body, quite a large spade headed screw? I think it's the screw top middle of the attached pic.

Strange that it increases in rpm when warm. Sounds like it might be running a bit rich, since the only things that make the engine run quicker are more air (which the car measures and adds more fuel) or more fuel. So could be a faulty Lambda probe with the car running in open loop mode, although this should set the engine warning lamp on (but didn't on mine)? This is easy enough to check with a multi-meter... see here (scroll down the page a bit). To stalling would mean either not enough air or not enough (or too much!) fuel (it could be running overly rich?).

Don't pay too much attention to the rpm reading for actual revs... it's not too accurate... mine reads about 1100rpm on the gauge but is set to 900 odd with a strobe. It's fine for relative readings though.

Hope this helps?

cheers... Jonny."

 

The throttle body showing the air adjustment screw
 

Click on this image for instructions
 
 
 
 
From Gert in Belgium

"Hello!

Did you notice the trident on one of the latest movies?

Gert."

 

The Devil wears Prada, but always with a Trident!!
 
 
 
 
From Andy in Japan

"Hi Enrico,

I recently stumbled across your website - its a fascinating homage to all things Maserati....great job!

I'm currently working in Tokyo where there are plenty of modern Maseratis to be found; I've seen Biturbos, Quattroportes (80s, 90s and current), 4200GTs, Spyders etc etc...and even an MC12.

I believe I've read that Japan is one of the largest markets for Quattroportes and they do seem to be very popular!

I thought people may be interested to see some of the Maseratis here in Tokyo so I've attached a few snaps....keep up the good work.

Andy."

 

Quattroporte

3200GT 'Assetto Corsa'
 

Quattroporte

3200GT
 

3200GT

Quattroporte Sport GT
 
 
 
 
From Mike in the USA

"HI Enrico,

I was wondering if someone could find me a diagram for the firing order for a 1987 Maserati.

Thanks,

Mike."

 

"Hi,

This is an interesting question, the answer to which will be of great help to a lot of Biturbo owners. I should know, back in 1991 when I assembled the ignition leads on my 425 (carburettor), the engine made the most interesting sound when I fired her up!! Then, when I finally found out the correct sequence, the Biturbo workshop manual had been of little or no help at the time, for connecting the leads to the distributor and it sounded so much better.

The images below show how the cylinders are numbered. The original factory ignition leads are numbered, so there should be no problem there, and on the later fuel injected engines so was the distributor cap. But, on the early carburettored engines the distributor cap is NOT marked.

These images should make life a lot easier for you.

Enrico."

 

Rotation of Maserati V6 firing order: 1-6-2-5-3-4
 

Maserati V6 correct distributor sequence
Please click on this image for a broader picture!
 
 
 
 
From the National Exhibition Centre in England

One of the interesting classic Maseratis on display on the Maserati Club UK at the recent Classic Motor show was this ex-Prince Bira of Siam 1953 A6GCM/1954 Interim 250F.

Also on display was a rare A6G/54 by Allemano, a rare 1963 pre-production Mistral Coupe, shown in a preview at the Salone Internazionale dell'Automobile di Torino in November 1963, the 1974 Paris Motor Show Quattroporte II Prototype by Bertone, a Bora, a Mexico, a Khamsin, an L/125/T2 Maserati motorcycle and the latest Spyder GranSport loaned by Stratstone, concessionaire for the West Midlands.

The display organised by Simon Lees-Milne represented classic coachwork no less than six great Italian Carrozziere; Pininfarina, Bertone, Giugiaro, Vignale, Frua and Allemano.

More photos and a full report will be appearing shortly on the Maserati Club UK web site at www.maseraticlub.co.uk and did you know that this excellent site contains an extensive Italian/English Automotive Dictionary.

 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
From Renato in Italy

Dear Enrico,

More or less one year ago, I wrote to you to ask if you have ever heard something about a spyder version of the Maserati Khamsin.

You told me that you don’t have neither pics nor notices. I have seen the T version in you gallery and it is rather interesting.

During this time, have you known something new about it?

I send you also some pics of a model that I have done, starting from the Maserati Quattroporte (Maserati collection).

The doors are in open position because it was too difficult to make them operating.

May you reserve a small place in your models gallery for my job?

Thank you.

Congratulations for the wonderful website!

Renato."

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
From Jacques in France

"Bonjour à tous,

1600 voitures anciennes exposées à PADOUE (Italie) lors de la dernière AUTO RETRO EPOCA.

1600! Toutes aussi belles et intéressantes les unes que les autres...Une (toute) petite sélection, en images:

Prochain petit reportage, de LYON, ou la BMW 700 Luxus est exposée à EPOQU'AUTO, les 3, 4 et 5 Novembre:

Bientot,

Jacques."

 

"Hello everybody,

1600 classic cars on display in Padove (Italy) lors de la dernière AUTO RETRO EPOCA.

1600! All both as beautiful and interesting as the other...A (all models) small selection in pictures:

The next little report will come from LYON, where the BMW 700 Luxus will be displayed at EPOQU'AUTO, from the 3rd to the 5th of November:

All the best,

Jacques."

 

1963 Chevrolet Corvette designed by Pinin Farina
 

A new Cinquecento for 2007??

Cinquecento - the naked truth!
 

1933 MG L "Magna" Sports 1.1-litre

1961 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz Convertible
 

1950 Alfa Romeo 6C2500 Villa d'Este

Maserati 350S, Parson-Maserati and Tipo 61 by Drogo
 

Italian Alfa Romeo police cars

1954 Lancia Aurelia B24 Spider by Pinin Farina
 

1959 Lancia Flaminia 2.5 Nardi/Motto "Loraymo Coupe"

Lancia D50 Grand Prix car
 

This BMW 700 Luxus will be displayed at EPOQU'AUTO
 
 
 
 
From Yannick in France/U>

"Hi Enrico,

You will find my comment on how to put some dump/pop-off valves on a 1993 Ghibli without ABS (the later Ghiblis were fitted with dump valves as standard). Hope it will be of interest to other Ghibli owners.

How to fit dump valves on a 1993 Ghibli without ABS.

First of all, I would like to thanks Jonny Corcutt in The Netherlands, for his knowledge, which helped me a lot.

The Kit The Kit is from Forge in the UK. (www.forgemotorsport.com)

Jonny was the first to ask for such a kit, so it wasn’t difficult for me to get another one.

 

The Forge Motor Sport Dump Valve Kit
 

The Dump Valve Kit consists of: 2 dumps valves (in the picture the valves are already fixed to the chrome metal tubing), 2 chrome metal tubes (same length anddiameter as the standard tubes), 2 T plastic items, a small pipe of approximately 1 metre in length, and a variety of springs: 2 green springs, 2 yellow, 2 blue (which are already installed on the valves) and 2 red.

 

A variety of springs
 

As you understand, the green are very flexible, and on the other hand the red are hard.

 

Plenum chamber on a 1993 Ghibli without ABS
 

1) How to fit the kit (Part 1).

Before explaining this point, we must bear in mind, that there are two types of plenum cover on the Ghibli without ABS. The first one seems to be on the later one (1992?) As you can see there are 3 pipes coming in the plenum Cover.

 

Plenum chamber on an earlier 1992 Ghibli without ABS
 

On the earlier Ghibli without ABS, it's slightly different (1992?): Indeed as you can see there is a blanked-off port on the centre of the plenum chamber.

 

Photo of plenum chamber showing the blanked-off porton an earlier 1992 Ghibli without ABS
 

To fix the valves, it’s quiet simple. Replace the old metallic item ( by the Forge Kit), and make sure that there is a link between the valves and the plenum chamber. So the first thing I did was to find a pipe connection to fit into the blank port.

 

The pipe connection
 

Not so hard to find because I've got a plenum chamber from the earlier Ghibli:

 

The plenum chamber from an early Ghibli
 

So the next step was to fit this pipe connection into the blank port to form a link with the new dump valves.

 

The old plug and the new pipe connection
 

Then the engine looked like this:

 

My engine with the two new dump valves fitted
 

But despite all my efforts, the valves were definitely closed which proved that they weren't working properly(????). Indeed the valves should be open when the engine is running.

So my only solution was to disconnect the small vacuum tube from the top of the new dump valves, at idle (with the engine running) you should feel a vacuum, this is used to open the main piston in the dump valve body (alloy part) viewed through the holes in the side of the dump valve.

But there were no vacuum.

So I looked at the blank port and, the HOLE was CLOSED at the end even if you can fit the item from the other plenum (?????).

No way, I didn’t want to drill any new holes in the plenum.

2) How to fit the kit (Part 2).

So there was a second T-piece (three-way union) in the kit, and I used it to connect the vacuum pipe and the fuel pressure regulator to the plenum chamber.

Here are the different steps:

 

My engine with new T-piece connected to the two new dump valves
 

The T-piece, the connection between the two dump valves

The connection between the first T-piece and the plenum chamber
 

More important the second T-piece:

 

My engine with new T-piece connected to the two new dump valves
 

Now that the connection between the dump valves and the plenum chamber is complete, it's time to start the engine and: "Victory! The valves are working at idle!!

 

Success! The dump valve is open and therefore working properly
 

And finally, more Ghibli engines fitted with dump valves/pop-off valves

 

One of the two dump valves fitted standard on a Ghibli MY95

A dump valve on a Ghibli Open Cup
 

Special dump valves on a special Open Cup

One of the two dump valves fitted standard on a Ghibli GT
 
 
 
 
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